


A Shade, A Ghost

by illustriousprotagonist



Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Bombing, F/M, M/M, Major Character Injury, Minor Character Death, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-War, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Unresolved Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-01 21:38:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8638996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/illustriousprotagonist/pseuds/illustriousprotagonist
Summary: (On hiatus)In the year 2023, in the middle of a nuclear war, nearly the entire United States is destroyed. Miraculously, Alec Lightwood, his siblings, and his friends make it out alive. They have to find some final place to call home, and just survive, somehow.





	1. A Moment's Destruction

**Author's Note:**

> The old title was "My Heart is Buried in Venice," but I have since changed it to a more fitting title.

“The bunker isn’t done yet, is it?” Jace Wayland asked, stirring whatever mess Izzy started on the stove. He’d shooed her away before she started _another_ nuclear war in the kitchen.

“Nope. Still have to put proper ventilation systems in it,” Clary Fray replied, sipping her tea. “Luke should be back soon. We’re going to head down there and check out what we still have to do.”

“You want me to come?”

“I think we’ll be good,” she said, “but I know you do whatever you please.”

The conversation went on for another good five minutes. Mostly arguing about who was more stubborn, Alec heard.

Even in the midst of their conversation, Alec couldn’t keep his eyes off the television. The evening news was on, the blonde reporter saying something about how roads are being shut off and whatnot. Alec didn’t particularly like the news, but it passed the time.

Suddenly, the news anchor did a double take with her tablet. She squinted her eyes to read it, but she didn’t turn her head back up as she spoke. “Okay, folks,” she said quickly. “There are, now,  _confirmed_ reports of nuclear detonations in Illinois, Montana, and California." The reporter scratched her scalp, unsure of what to do next. "My God."

His blood ran cold. Alec’s heart beat in his throat. The threats overseas were just that; threats. But Alec never thought they’d become real.

Alec turned off the television, only to hear sirens seconds later.

Clary jerked her head to face Alec.

Jace turned off the burners. He grabbed his bag on the table, shoveling cans, batteries, and the like inside the burlap. Alec slung his--already put together--bag over his shoulder.

He noticed Isabelle was nowhere to be found, and Clary was just a deer in the headlights.

“Clary! Izzy!” he shouted. “Let’s go!”

“What about Luke?” Clary shouted back.

“He’ll meet us in the bunker. He’s smart,” Jace said with urgency. He grabbed Clary’s arm and jogged to the door. Clary pulled back, trying to go to Isabelle’s bedroom.

Izzy rounded the corner and pulled on her shoes. They were running shoes, and Alec seldom saw her without heels. It was odd, but that didn’t matter. “What’re we doing sitting around?” she yelled. “Let’s go!”

Jace was the first out the door, with Izzy coming last and slamming it behind her.

The air was hot and heavy. Their neighbors were packing their cars and driving away from the city.

Wind blew through Alec’s hair, shielding his eyes. His friends were hurrying, but Alec turned around to look at the horizon.

A brief flash of burning white light filled his vision.

When the mushroom cloud plumed in the sky, they all knew. The sky went dark as Alec put out his arm, sticking up his thumb and closing his right eye.

The blast cloud was much bigger than his thumb.

“Oh, God,” Alec said. The reality quickly set in, the urgency with it. “Oh, _God_!”

The world seemed to go by in slow motion, with Alec turning to run in the opposite direction. He tripped on his own feet, but that hardly mattered. His pack was heavy on his back. Isabelle’s shoe came off as she ran with Jace and Alec. The shelter wasn’t too far away.

Clary was the sport runner, so she was already far ahead, throwing open the hatch and climbing down inside. Jace followed, then Izzy.

The blast came at him like a wave. Alec felt the dust pounding on his back.

He threw caution to the wind and jumped inside, grabbing the hatch as he fell in the hole. He hoped no one was climbing down when he jumped in.

The incomplete ventilation system kicked on with the flip of a switch, which Jace did.

Clary’s back was flush with the wall as she slid down, hugging her bag to her chest. Her eyes were wide. A thud was heard as she hit her head against the wall behind her. “What’re we going to do?”

“We’ll figure something out,” Jace reassured. “We always do.”

Izzy went to the cupboards and the pantry, opening the doors and slamming them with frustration. “You guys didn’t put nearly enough food in here!”

“We were going to!” Clary said. “Luke didn’t think we were going to need anything _this_ soon!”

“God _damnit_!” Izzy yelled, punching the cabinet door.

“What do you want me to say? ‘I’m sorry’?”

Alec spoke up, breaking up the argument. “Didn’t you say the ventilation systems weren’t finished?”

Clary went slump. “Oh, God. You’re right.”

“How much oxygen do we have?” Jace asked, looking from Clary to Alec.

“About three days’ worth. It won’t be enough,” she whispered. “I’m such an idiot!”

Jace knelt down beside her, shaking her shoulders. “Hey! We wouldn’t even be here without you. We should be thanking you.” He turned to Izzy, his eyes shooting daggers.

 _If looks could kill_ , Alec thought.

 

Hours had passed since the first bomb blast. There was a periscope on the wall, leading topside and just next to the hatch. Jace kept looking through it to check if people were coming.

“Do you see Luke?” Clary would ask, nearly every time Jace looked through.

His response would always be “no,” though.

And every time, she would be visibly more upset.

This time, however, Jace looked through and made a noise of confusion. “I think it’s raining.”

“What?” Clary asked, standing up. “Let me see.”

Whatever she saw made her grunt. “I don’t think that’s rain. It’s too dark to be rain.”

“Maybe it’s fallout?” Izzy asked from the table.

“Probably. God, we’re going to be in here forever. Where’s Luke? Where’s my mom?”

Alec sighed and told Jace to sit down, that it wasn’t worth it to look every five seconds. He grumbled and sat down next to Alec.

Izzy turned on the radio to local stations, tuning between other bunkers and news stations. Many people were frightened and thinking about what was going on topside.

The concrete floor was cold and unforgiving as Alec tried to sleep.

 

He was jerked awake instantly by a familiar voice. It took him a second to get all of his senses on high-alert.

 _Cold floor. Clothes are heavy. Smells like wet concrete._ He tuned his ears to the source of the noise. The radio was on, and his mother’s voice was coming through.

 _“--son and daughter. Alec, Isabelle. I love you._ We _love you, your father and I. Wherever you are, and whoever is listening to this, we hope you’re okay. We have Jocelyn with us.”_

Alec heard Clary’s breath hitch.

 _“We’re okay. We hope you’re safe.”_ Maryse’s voice got quieter, as if she moved away from her microphone. “ _God, please let them be safe.”_

And just like that, the broadcast was over with the harsh static.

Izzy breathed out a shuddering breath. Alec saw her eyes were filled with tears. He got up and made his way over to his sister, hugging her warmly. She was cold in his arms as she buried her head into his chest.

Alec whispered things to her that didn’t mean anything, sweet nothings. “They’re okay, Izzy. They’re okay.”

She cried into his chest, her sobs muffled by his sweater.

Alec saw Jace knit his eyebrows and look to Clary.

“Are any of us okay?” Jace asked her quietly. “Like, _really_ okay?”

He saw Clary bite her bottom lip. “I don’t know.”


	2. Momentary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to have a regular updating schedule soon!!

Alec paced around the bunker. It was night the last time he looked through the periscope. God only knew how long ago that was.

Everyone else was asleep. Clary was in Jace’s arms as they slept. Izzy was on her back, her elbow over her eyes. The bunker was dimly lit, illuminated only by a few bulbs on strings. It was minimalist, but it helped. Alec had been down here more than a few times, and every time was different. Clary and Luke were making major progress before they actually needed to use the bunker. Alec aided in setting up the periscope. Clary drew up the plans, Luke made it a reality, and Alec installed it. That much he was proud of.

In their partial bomb shelter, some twenty feet below the earth, there was very little to show for all their hard work. The walls were two feet thick, concrete. The floors, the same. There was a cheap geiger counter on the wall, which helped monitor the radiation levels inside the bunker. Thankfully, they were still close to zero when he turned it on last.

Alec sighed and scanned the walls. The one thing Luke and Clary fully stocked were base layers of Bug Out clothing and gas masks. The Bug Out clothing was carefully designed to keep moisture away from your body. And the gas masks...well, they just looked creepy on the shelf. Alec read up on these sorts of things before the first bombs fell.

He thought back to when he read a few articles on Little Boy and Fat Man, the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Alec wondered if they were the same type of explosives that were dropped not two days ago.

Becoming bored, he turned on the radio, putting it close to his ear and turning down the sound. He turned to different stations, both private and public wavelengths. The things he heard didn’t make him want to turn off the damn thing but made his stomach church. Some parents begging their kids to be safe, some people crying out for help; that they were lost and unable to find shelter. Alec knew those people would be dead in a month’s time.

But one thing captured his attention. A man’s voice, very professional, over an odd station at the end of the wavelength.

“ _ \--ood and shelter available. We’ve got a nice little community, here, in lower Manhattan. A few hundred people, at most. We’re mostly self-sustaining, although we do go out for supply runs.” _

Alec thought the man’s voice was calming, almost like he was being pulled into a trance.

“ _ We’re located under Katz’s Delicatessen. If you’re in need of a community in these hard times, we’re here. Come to Babylon, where all your needs will be met.” _

Alec was startled when the radio went to static. He jumped, nearly dropping the radio. He caught it before it hit the floor and woke everyone up.

“Sounds too good to be true, huh?” Izzy said suddenly, starting Alec even more.

“God, Izzy!” he yell-whispered. “Don’t scare me like that.”

She chuckled. “Sorry.”

Alec looked at his sister. She was nearly his twin. The same ebony hair, the same facial structure. The only differences being gender and age. She was graceful in everything she did, Alec thought. The way she talked had a certain flair that only made sense to Alec. She had the kind of natural beauty that wrote itself across her cheekbones. She was the kind of girl who could grace any billboard or magazine cover, but she was better than those two-dimensional models. He appreciated her beauty, but was not infatuated with it like her many past boyfriends and girlfriends.

She laughed dryly, looking somewhere in the great beyond where Alec’s eyes couldn’t follow. “It hasn’t been two days, and the world’s already gone to Hell in a handbasket.” She snapped out of her daze, turning her eyes to Alec. “So, who’s station were you listening to?”

He scratched the back of his neck. “I don’t know. I turned it all the way to the left, and that was the last broadcast. You know Katz’s Delicatessen?”

“That’s across the Bridge, right? Yeah, Clary and Jace went there, once. It’s a Jewish place, I think. I bet we could make in there in two hours on foot.”

Alec nodded in understanding. “The man on the station said that they have a shelter for everyone. He seemed nice enough.”

“You, of all people, should know that looks can be deceiving,” Izzy retorted.

Alec rolled his eyes. “I know. Anyway, he didn’t say his name, but he said the place was called ‘Babylon.’”

“Sounds familiar. I’ll ask them,” she nodded to the sleeping couple on the floor, “when they wake up what we should do. It’s too dangerous to make it on foot, now, what with all the fallout. I mean, we have masks and clothes, but think of the lasting damage.”

“You’re right. We don’t know what the radiation will do to us. If we make good time, we could make it without poisoning ourselves, but… I don’t know.”

Izzy nodded, then stood up, going over to the counter and sitting on it. “You should sleep. I’ll hold down the fort for a while.”

It was a mutual understanding between the two. Alec laid down by the wall, trying to rest his eyes, but sleep never came.


	3. Never Looked Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> W O W W I E-- it's been nearly two months and I know I keep saying this, but I am very sorry!! Unbelievably sorry!! I will try to keep to a regular updating schedule, but we ALL know (from past experiences) that I probably won't lol.

_Falling. Alec was falling as he opened his eyes. His vision was cloudy, but he felt the air on his face, rustling his clothes. He tried to breathe, but there was no oxygen in the air. The ground was coming up fast, and Alec braced himself. He closed his eyes as he hit the ground._

And he woke up. Izzy was shaking him awake. “Alec,” she choked out.

    Alec tried breathing, but there was no air. He coughed as he held his throat.

    He didn’t care where the rest of his friends were, he just needed to get out. Alec stood up shakily and climbed to the ladder. Relying on little energy and pure adrenaline, he forced himself up the ladder and opened the hatch.

    Natural light flooded in for the first time in days, warming his skin and burning his eyes. He shoved himself out of the hole and fell on the earth, panting heavily and shaking. He noticed Izzy pulling Clary up out of the bunker, followed by Jace. Jace heaved his backpack up and threw it on the ground.

    The earth was dry, Alec noticed first. He turned his head and noticed there was no grass. It was just dry dirt, cold and hard.

    Alec pushed himself onto his hands and knees as Izzy threw a mask at him. He didn’t think twice as he slipped it on his face.

    “What the hell happened?” Alec asked finally.

    “I went to go check the oxygen levels,” Clary said, “but there was only a tiny amount left. The next thing I knew, I was suffocating.”

    “We could’ve died,” Jace said, hugging Clary. “But you didn’t let that happen. Thank you.”

    “What do we do now? Where do we go?” Izzy asked. “We’ll die out here.”

    “Babylon,” Alec said suddenly. “You guys know where Katz’s is?”

    Clary and Jace looked confused, then nodded.

    “Take us there.”

    Izzy protested, “But I don’t have a shoe!”

    Clary pulled Jace’s bag against her chest, shoving things aside and pulling out a pair of sneakers. She threw them to Izzy.

    “I’m grateful, don’t...don’t get me wrong, but who the hell brings shoes in their backpack?” Izzy said, slipping the new shoes on after taking the previous one off.

    “Shut up and take them.”

    Alec looked to the sky. It was a slate grey, a thick blanket of fog hovering above. It was nothing at all, the sky. There wasn’t even sunlight. It was hot, and whatever heat was beating on Alec’s face, making him slightly sweat.

    But, then, he looked around. The dry, cold dirt was contradicting the hot air. Like the sky, there was nothing besides rubble. He couldn’t see anything in the distance, not even a fully standing building. The reality of their situation knocked the air out of his lungs.

    “What...what happened?” Jace asked, standing up. He put the mask on. “There was only one bomb, right? Tell me there was only one bomb.”

    “Should we go back to Luke’s house?” Clary asked.

    “Are you sure there’s anything left of it?” Izzy replied. Clary set her lips in a thin line and scrunched her eyebrows together.

    Alec glanced at Jace, who looked frustratingly sad. Alec knew he was thinking what there was to do; they all were.

    “Take us to Katz’s,” Alec said, getting up from the ground.

    “You keep saying that, but what’s there?” Jace asked angrily.

    “ _Babylon!_ There was a man on the radio that said to go there, that it was a haven.”

    “So, we’re just going somewhere on the off chance that it’s going to ‘save us’? What the hell, Alec? I thought you were smarter than this.”

    “We haven’t got anywhere else to go. We don’t even _know_ where our parents are,” Alec said, motioning between himself and Izzy. “There’s not much left to lose, Jace.” Alec walked up to him, putting out his palm for him. “Please, Jace. You and Clary are the only ones who know the way. _Please_.”

    Jace took a deep breath through his nose, closing his eyes. He grabbed hold of Alec’s hand. “Alright. Alright, fine. Let’s go.”

    Alec smiled and let go of Jace’s hand but didn’t take his eyes off of him.

 

    They were still nearly ten minutes from the bridge when Alec held Izzy back.

    “Where do you think Mom and Dad are?”

    Isabelle exhaled loudly, which was muffled by the mask. “I don’t know. They’re safe, that’s what matters.”

    Alec made a noise of agreement.

    Izzy turned her head slightly. “What do you think we’ll find when we get to this ‘Babylon’?”

    Alec shrugged. “I...I don’t know. I didn’t even think about it until now. What if--”

    “There’s no time for ‘what if’s, Alec. We get there, we find out. Did the man on the radio sound like you could trust him?”

    “Yeah, actually.”

    “What’s your gut telling you?”

    “It’s telling me...to be cautious. But, for some reason, I’m not worried.”

    “Good.” Izzy said it like it was a final decision. “Then I won’t be, either.”

    Alec smiled. “That’s g--”

    Suddenly, Jace shouted, throwing Alec off guard. “Oh, my god!”

    When Alec saw what Jace was pointing to, he felt like he could be sick at any moment. In the distance, in the water of the East River, was a massive bomb, not yet detonated. It was nearly the size of a car.

    “So--so...there _was_ more than one,” Jace said, his voice shaking. Alec hadn’t seen him set his bag down, but Jace picked it up, slinging it over his shoulder. “We have to go. _Now_!”

    “Where?” Izzy asked urgently.

    “Across the bridge, and fast.”

    Clary spoke up for the first time in a while. “How is this thing even here?”

    “Who knows?” Jace said, beginning to walk faster. “But I don’t want to stick around when it does its job.”

    When Clary stopped staring at the bomb, the had to run to catch up to Jace.

   In the heat of the moment, Alec realised that, across the bridge, there was freedom. There was safety, and each step was a step closer to Babylon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extremely short chapter, but it's what I could come up with. I was at a mental road block, of sorts, and I needed to clear my head. I took a break, but here I am. Hopefully a regular bi-weekly updating schedule ??


End file.
